Inca Explorer: Machu Picchu

Arrive in Lima, meet by a local representative and transfer to your hotel.

Explore Lima’s old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, packed with fascinating historic buildings. The route begins at the traditional Pueblo Libre district, where you visit the Larco Museum, located in a beautifully restored vice-regal mansion built on a pre-Columbian pyramid from the seventh century. The museum boasts a complete pre-Hispanic collection of gold and silver objects, as well as pieces of erotic art. Then visit the Casa de Aliaga, a colonial mansion granted by chief conquistador Francisco Pizarro to one of his captains, Jeronimo de Aliaga. This is the only house from that time, still belonging to the same family. Continue with a scenic tour through the colonial downtown. See the Main Square, where you can appreciate the grandiose architecture of the Spanish Empire. Admire Lima’s Cathedral, built during the 16th century. After the tour return to your hotel. Late in the afternoon, surprise yourself with the largest complex of electronic sources in the world, certified by Guinness World Record. You will enjoy a wonderful show of water, light, music and images, presented at the famous Parque de la Reserva.

After breakfast, transfer to the airport for the flight to Cusco. Upon arrival, meet and transfer to your hotel in Sacred Valley. Due to the high altitude (10,912 feet above sea level), we recommend that you rest for a short period. Enjoy the day at your leisure.

In the morning, pick up from hotel to visit the town of Chinchero, a traditional Cusco urban center located at an elevated point with a beautiful view of the valley. The inhabitants of this area preserve the artisan traditions and the inherited knowledge of the Incas and display them in their clothes and customs. In Chinchero there are also archaeological remains and a beautiful seventeenth-century church, one of the first Catholic buildings in Peru. Then, you are transferred to the Living Museum of Yucay. The museum is a center Andean traditions interpretation, where demonstrations of the elaboration of textile work, adobe, pottery and silverware are carried out in the same way in which they used to in antiquity; an original recreation of Inca traditions. Also, residents of the museum include llamas, sheep and alpacas, and they can be fed! Transfer to Ollantaytambo where you have free time for lunch. After this, visit the town and local archaeological site, inhabited uninterruptedly since Inca times, and climb the iconic fortress, built next to a mountain. At the end of the tour, return to your hotel.
Note: Please pack an overnight bag for journey to Machu Picchu tomorrow. Due to luggage restrictions aboard the trains to/from Machu Picchu, passengers may only take 1 small bag weighing no more than 5 kg (11 lbs.). The rest of your luggage will be stored at your hotel in Cusco.

After breakfast at the hotel, your journey to Machu Picchu begins with a train ride Aguas Calientes, also known as Machu Picchu Pueblo, the last stop before entering the most important archaeological site in Peru. In Aguas Calientes you will find a craft market, restaurants and, for those who prefer to spend the night at the foot of the mountain and climb early in the morning, hotels for all budgets. Take a short bus ride up to Machu Picchu, the architectural and engineering masterpiece that once served as a sanctuary and refuge for the Inca ruler Pachacutec. Machu Picchu, which means Old Mountain, is a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site and one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. At the end of the tour, take a bus back to Aguas Calientes. Enjoy a delicious lunch at Belmond Sanctuary Lodge.

The delicious breakfast at the hotel is followed by a relaxing morning at leisure.
In the afternoon, walk to Aguas Calientes station and take the train back to Ollanta station. From here
you will be transferred to your hotel in Cusco.

In the afternoon, enjoy a guided tour of this charming city, which was the capital of the Inca Empire. The tour starts with a visit to Santo Domingo Convent, a large Renaissance-baroque complex, which was built over the Inca Coricancha temple. It was one of the most important temples dedicated to worshipping of the sun, and its foundations are still prominent at the base of the convent. Ancient chronicles say the temple was covered in gold leaf and filled with golden representations of nature. Then, visit the Cathedral, the most imposing monument of the Main Square. Head to the hills above Cusco to visit the remains of the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, whose imposing ramparts offer a stunning panoramic view of Cusco, and the ruins of the temple and amphitheatre of Qenqo, where it is believed the Incas practised agricultural rituals. Admire Qenqo and then finally visit Puka Pukara (‘Red fortress’ in Quechua) an Inca military complex located on a prominent hill. Its dwellings squares, bathrooms, aqueducts, walls, and towers can still be appreciated. Afterwards, return to your hotel.

Enjoy free time until your transfer to the airport for your homebound flight.

B – Breakfast          L – Lunch          D – Dinner